Dutch volleyball player who raped 12-year-old British girl qualifies for Paris Olympics

A Dutch beach volleyball player who raped a 12-year-old British girl has qualified for next month’s Olympic Games in Paris, despite a judge telling him his hopes of representing the Netherlands were a “shattered dream”.

Steven van de Velde was sentenced to four years in prison in March 2016 after admitting three counts of rape of a child he met on Facebook. He had flown to the UK from the Netherlands to meet his victim in August 2014, when he was 19.

Judge Francis Sheridan told him: “Before you came to this country, you trained as a potential Olympian. Your hopes of representing your country are now a shattered dream.”

Apart from Van de Velde, who was released after just 12 months in a Dutch prison, he has since been allowed to resume his Olympic career and secured his place in the national doubles at the Paris Games this month alongside Matthew Immers.

At the sentencing hearing at Aylesbury Crown Court following his extradition from his home country, his own defence lawyer Linda Strudwick said of the verdict: “The headlines say it all: ‘A sex monster.’ This is clearly the end of his career.”

It has proven anything but successful, as Van de Velde, now 29, has restored his credibility in beach volleyball to the point where he and Immer will travel to Paris next month as the 11th-ranked team in the world rankings.

Van de Velde’s comeback presents the International Olympic Committee with a major moral dilemma. Every Olympic participant in Paris must sign a declaration of the rights and responsibilities of athletes, point seven of which demands: “Act as a role model.”

Van de Velde had travelled from Amsterdam to Milton Keynes to have sex with a girl he knew was only 12 years old. In 2016, he was given a severe sentence by a judge at Aylesbury Crown Court. The court heard that he had gone to the home of the victim, with whom he had communicated on social media before arranging the meeting, while her mother was away and taken her virginity.

“Your actions have destroyed your life and you could have been a leader in your sport if you had never come to England and committed these offences,” Judge Sheridan said. “A young, naive, stupid child had the idea that you loved her. In reality, you only knew her from the internet, had never met her before and were fully aware of the age difference.”

Upon his release in 2017 after serving just a quarter of his sentence, Van de Velde, who had cried in court when he heard of the girl’s self-harm and overdose, said: “I want to correct all the nonsense that was written about me when I was locked up. I deliberately didn’t read any of it, but I understand that it was pretty bad that I was branded a sex monster, a paedophile. I’m not that, really not.”

“Everyone can have their opinion about me, but it’s only fair that they also know my side of the story.”

The comments sparked a scathing response from the National Society for Protection of Cruelty to Children, which stated: “Van de Velde’s lack of remorse and self-pity are stunning and we can only begin to imagine the distress his victim must feel upon seeing his comments.

“Grooming can make children feel ashamed or even guilty because they believe they have participated voluntarily, when in reality an adult has abused them for sexual exploitation.”

The Dutch Olympic Committee has not yet commented on Van de Velde’s qualification for Paris. The Australian reported that the country’s volleyball federation has not yet ratified its final selection of athletes. The IOC has been asked for a response.